Twitter / Robert Cooper
Robert Cooper is one of the nation’s most prized football recruits for 2018. He’s a 4-star defensive tackle at Snellville, Georgia’s South Gwinnett High School, he weighs 350-pounds, stands 6’3″, and he just blew coaches away by uploading a video of himself benching 31 reps of 225-pounds.
He’s currently a Junior, and committed to Florida State Football’s 2018 Recruiting Class, but this video shows Robert Cooper last year, when he was just 15-years-old as a Sophomore:
https://twitter.com/trenchmonster8/status/825123641172033536
If that Twitter video didn’t load you can access it HERE.
What makes this so significant? The 225-pound bench press is one of the most important metrics of the NFL Rookie Combine. According to Tomahawk Nation, at the 2016 NFL Rookie Combine only SIX PLAYERS put up more reps of 225lbs than this kid. However, in the 2015 NFL Rookie Combine there were a total of 10 players who put up more reps than this kid, including FSU’s very own Mario Edwards, Jr.
Does it actually have any bearing on this kid’s athletic abilities and/or his future prospects as one of the top defensive tackles in the NCAA? Kind of, maybe, it’s not really clear. I think the biggest takeaway here is this kid’s light years ahead of the competition, in terms of physical maturity.
2017 National Signing Day is this Wednesday, which means we’re a full year away from Robert Cooper actually signing with the Florida State Seminoles. A LOT can happen between now and then, and it’ll be interesting to see how aggressively other coaches pursue Cooper as a recruit after seeing this footage.